Synthesis and Preliminary Biological Evaluation of Two Fluoroolefin Analogs of Largazole Inspired by the Structural Similarity of the Side Chain Unit in Psammaplin A

Largazole, isolated from a marine Cyanobacterium of the genus Symploca, is a potent and selective Class I HDAC (histone deacetylation enzymes) inhibitor. This natural 16-membered macrocyclic depsipeptide features an interesting side chain unit, namely 3-hydroxy-7-mercaptohept-4-enoic acid, which occurs in many other natural sulfur-containing HDAC inhibitors. Notably, one similar fragment, where the amide moiety replaces the trans alkene moiety, appears in Psammaplin A, another marine natural product with potent HDAC inhibitory activities. Inspired by such a structural similarity, we hypothesized the fluoroolefin moiety would mimic both the alkene moiety in Largazole and the amide moiety in Psammaplin A, and thus designed and synthesized two novel fluoro olefin analogs of Largazole. The preliminary biological assays showed that the fluoro analogs possessed comparable Class I HDAC inhibitory effects, indicating that this kind of modification on the side chain of Largazole was tolerable.